Fire protection for stores.



PATBNTED FEB. 28, 1905.

A. A. HANSON. FIRE PROTECTION FOR STORES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY19-1904.

No. 783,634. PATBNTBD FEB. 28, 1905. A. A. HANSON.

FIRE PROTECTION FOR STORES.

APPLICATION FILED `JULY 19. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHBBT 2.

No. 783,634. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. A. A. HANSON.

FIRE PROTECTION FOR STORES.

APPLICATION FILED JOLY 19. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ltiilo.. 733,634..

lil'nii'rnn @mairies Patented February 28, 1905.

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lFlllllE PlHOTlEC'lVlOlil FGW ETGMES..

i SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 783,634, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed July 19, 1904. Serial No. 217,188.

Be it known that l, AnoLrn A. HANsoN, a

- citizen of the United States, residing' at Decostarted at any point throughout the entire building'.

l\/li v invention consists in certain details in the construction', arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, in which-H Figure l shows a sectional view of a building' provided with my improved apparatus. lfig. 2 shows an enlarged detail View illustrating' means for supporting' one of the fireproof curtains and for releasing' it when a rope is pulled. liig'. 3 shows a detail view illustrating' the means for automatically sounding` an electric bell when a rope is pulled. Fig'. i shows a detail perspective View of a show-case for containing' valuable articles arranged to be bodily removed from a building' when a rope is pulled. Fig'. 5 shows a detail perspective view of a displaytable, illustrating means for spreading' a lireproof sheet over the table when a rope is pulled. Fig'. (i shows a detail perspective view illustrating' the means for automatically'unlocking' and opening' a door when a rope is pulled, and Fig'. Tshows an enlarged detail sectional view of the fuse box and connected parts.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings, lf have used the reference-numeral l() to indicate the building', 1l a window in the building', and l2 a pair of hinged doors, all of com mon construction. At a convenient point within the building' ---such, for instance, as the ing' a perforated front plate. Sliding'ly supported in the top of the fuse-box is a metal tube l, to which a rope 15 is attached. This rope l5 extemls upwardly and then over a number of direction-pulleys 1G. @ne end of the rope is attached to a sliding' pin i7, which pin is held in place by a thin wooden strip 1S, which may be easily broken. lhe other end of the rope is provided with a weight l5), which weight will descend as soon as the tube l is released from the fuse-box. and it will also break the wooden strip .lo and withdrz'tw the piu 1T. 'lhe said rope l5 is made o'f lire'proof material. `Passed through the bottom of the fuse-box 13 is another tube, 20, sliding'l \,f mounted in the fuse-box, and the tubes Q0 and lel; are connected by means of the cords 2l, whiel are made of material that will readily burn. Attached to the lower end of the tube 2.0 is a rope 22 made of a maC terial that will easily burn. This rope passes over a number of direction-rmlleys 23 and is arranged throughout those parts of the building' where a lire is likely to occur. The opposite end of the rope is fixed to a stationary support at Q4, and the rope 23 is stretched taut by the upward pull of the tube lilon the tube 20. .lf a lire should occur in any part of the building' adjacent to the rope 2,2, the said rope would be. easily ignited and burned oli", thus permittiiig' the rope lil to elevate the tubes lli and 2l).

.l have provided an :ulditional means for releasil'ig' the rope to which tln` weight l0 is attzwherlv as follows: ln the fuse-box l?, l place a quantity of readily-ig'nitible substam'se 25, and communicating' with the fuse-box is a pipe 26, leading' te a part of the building' where a lire is likely to occur and where it may not be desirable to run the rope ln the pipe 2G l have placed a readily-ienitible fuse 27, one end of which enters the fuse-box 13 and the other end projects to the other end of the pipe. l-l'ence if this fuse is ignited -the fuse will rapidly burn and ignite the matcrial 25 in the fusebox, so that the cords 2l will be burned off and the weight lil be permitted to descend.

l have provided means for automatieally removing' a show-case from the I )uilding' in upperstorydl place a metal fuse-box 13, havl the event that the weight ,itl descends as fol- .LOG

lows: The numeral 28 indicates a trame tor supporting' a show-case 29, which Atrame is supported on the wheels 30 and is provided at its top with the hangers 21, in which the rollers 32 are mounted. An elevated track 33 is located in the building and extends through the doorway, to which the doors 12 are applied, and projects to the point exterior to the building. At the end ot' the show-case 29 adjacent to the doors I have provided a handle The said track 33 is arranged at such height trom the tioor that when the rollers 32 are on the track the rollers 30 will clear the iioor. To provide a i'irm base for the show-case, I place the blocks on the Vtloor under the rollers 30, thus elevating the rollers 32 above the track The numeral 36 indicates a rope, attached to the end ol" the. show-case t'arthest from the doorway. This rope passes above the track 33 and under a direction-pulley 37, positioned above the dooie way. The said rope also travels over a direction-pulley 38, mounted on a bracket 39, located on the exterior ot' the building'. Supported on the bracket 38 is a 'pivoted sheltl 40, upon which a weight L11 on the end of the rope 36 is placed. This sheltl e() is normally held in an elevated position by a prop 42, the lower end oi which is supported by the sliding pin 17. Hence when the sliding pin is withdrawn the prop 42 drops and the shelt' 40 swings downwardly. Immediately below the sheltl r-LLO is a deiiector, designed to receive the weight 41 to permit it to slowly descend by gravity until it reaches the end ot' the deiector, whereupon it will quickly drop. Tn this way the pull upon the rope 36 at lirst is relatively slow and gradual, and after the weight has moved a short distance it may quickly drop. Obviously when the weight 411 descends the show-case will lirst be moved toward the door until the rollers 30 pass beyond the blocks Then the show-case will travel on the rollers 32 and track 33, and as the doors 12 are open the show-case will be moved to the exterior ot' the building` and the lirst movement ot' the show-case will be relatively slow and will gradually increase as it moves toward the doorway.

l have provided means for automatically opening' the doors 12 when the rope 36 is pulled upwardly as follows: Connected with each of the doors 12 is a contractible coil-spring eet, the other end` otI which is attached at to the point within the building', thus normally applying' a yielding pressure in the direction tending to open the door. Fixed tothe inner vtace ot' each door 12 is a bracket 46. A crosspiece e7 is provided, and on its ends are the wedges 48, normally resting in the brackets 46, thus forming a lock tor the doors. Attached to the cross-piece 47 is a rope 49,which rope is attached at 50 to the rope 36. Hence when the said rope 36 is pulled the rope 19 is elevated, the doors unlocked, and then opened by the springs 44. l have also provided means .tor automatically spreading a iireproot sheet over tables and over such articles as cannot be easily removed from a building as follows: The numeral 51 indicates a table provided at its sides with the tracks 52. Mounted upon said tracks are the brackets 53, provided with rollers 54, traveling on the said tracks. The said brackets 53 support a roller 55, upon which a lireprootl sheet 56 is wound. One end ot' the sheet is attached to the end of the table, and a rope 57 is attached to the brackets 53 and to the frame 28 ot' the show-case, so that when the show-case moves toward the doorway the rope 57 will unroll the lireprootl sheet over the table 51. l have also provided means whereby stationary shelves in the building may be protected by a tireproot curtain as follows: The numeral 58 indicates a set of shelves, and supported Inear the top thereotl is a lireproot' curtain 59, wound upon a roller 60. The numeral 61 indicates a rope passed around the central portion of the curtain in its rolled-up position. and said rope 61 is opened upon a pin 62, which is slidingly mounted in a support 63, so that when the pin 62 is pulled the rope 61 will be released therefrom and the curtainwill unroll by gravity to cover the shehc 58. The piu 62 is attached to a rope 64, which rope is connected with the rope 15, before described. A rope 65 is also connected with the rope 15 and arranged to support a tireproot curtain 66 to cover the window 11 the same as the curtain 59 is supported.

I have provided means for automatically sounding' an alarm in case the weight 19 descends as follows: The numeral 67 indicates an electric battery, and 68 an electric bell ot' ordinary construction. 69 indicates a wire leading from the battery to the bell, and 70 a wire leading' from a bell to a contact-point 71.

The numeral 72 indicates a lever hinged at` indicates a block normally holding the lever 72, so that the contact-points are out ot' engagement. Y A rope 78 is attached to the block 77 and also to the rope 15, so that when the weight 19 drops the block 77 will be removed and the contact-points brought into engagement with each other and the electric bell operated by the battery.

1n practical use it isobvious that my appa ratus may be applied to buildings ot' any kind, and such articles as may be easily moved and which contain valuable property may be arranged to be instantly carried out of the building' in case a lire should originate at any point in the building. Furthermore, such articles ascannot easily be moved will be in- IOO IIO

ree,

stantly covered by lireproot' curtain or sheets and also an electric alarm will be sounded that will continue to ring 'tor an indelinite time.

lflaving thus described my invention, what ,li claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is-- l. In an apparatus ot the class described, the combination with a building having' a doorway, a door, a latch 'for the door, a show-case slidingly supported within the building, a rope attached to the show-case and to the door-latch and arranged when drawn to release the doorlatch and to remove the show-case through the doorway and means actuated by tire within the building tor drawingl said rope.

2. l n an apparatus oi the class described, the combination ot a building` having a doorway, a door, alatch Yt'or the door, ashow-case supported on rollers, a track above the show-case extended through the doorway, rollers at the top oi' the show-case resting on said track when the rollers that support the show-case are above the lloor, blocks beneath the rollcrs that support the show-case to hold the show-case in position with its rollers above the A track, a rope attached to the show-case and to the said latch and means actuated by a lire within the building i'or drawiiig said rope.

3. In an apparatus ol the class described, the combination ol a table. tracks on the side ot' the table, brackets slidingly mounted on said tracks, a roller supported by said brackets, a ireproot' sheet wound upon the roller and l'laving one end fixed to one end o't' the table, a rope connected with said brackets and means actuated by a lire within the building' it'or drawing the roller toward the end oi' the table opposite `from the point where the lireproo't sheet is attached.

il. In an apparatus of theclass described, the combination with a building, of abracket supported on the exterior ot the building, a shel't hinged to the bracket, a prop supporting the outer end ol'` the shelf, a sliding pin supporting the prop, a weight resting on the sheli", a pulley above, the weight, a. rope passed over the pulley and attached to the weight and means actuated by a lire within the building' Vfor witlulrawing the pin.

in an apparatus ot' the class described, the combination of a rope, pulleys ,t'or supporting the rope, a weight on one end of the rope, a sliding pin on the other end ot the rope, adevice connected with the rope normally supporting the weight, said device released automatically by lire within the building', a wooden strip normally holding the said pin in position, said strip arranged to be broken by the pullo'l'l the weight upon the rope when the device attached tothe rope is released by lire and means actuated by the withdrawal et the said pin 'for protecting articles within the building.

(3. ln an ap paratns of the class described, the combination with a building, ot' a bracket supported on the exterior ot the building, a sliding pin in said bracket, a wooden strip holding said pin in position, a rope attached tothe pin, means actuated by a lire within the building for breaking the strip and withdrawing the pin, a shell hinged to the said bracket, a prop supporting said shelll and resting upon said pin, a dellector beneath the shel't', a weight resting on the shelf, a rope connected with the weight and means actuated by a downward movement ot the weight Ator protecting articles within the building.

7. VIn an apparatus ot' the class described, the combination ot' a fireprooi curtain having one end attached to an elevated support, a rod having the curtain wound thereon, a cord supporting the wound-up curtain, a sliding bolt supporting the cord, a rope connected with the sliding bolt and means tor automatically pulling the rope to release the cord, said means actuated by a lire within the building.

8. In an apparatus ot' the class descri l )ed, the combination of an electric circuit, an electric bell included in the circuit, a lever in one position establishing a circuit t'rom the battery to the bell and :inanother position breaking the circuit, a spring' normally holding the lever in position for establishing' acircnit, a removable block normally holding the level' in position for breaking the circuit and a rope attached to the removable block and means actuomatically actuated by a lire within a building for pulling' the rope.

9. 1n an apparatus oi the class described, means for automatically pulling a rope upon the occurrence of a fire, said means comprising a box, inflammable material in the box, a `tuse communicating' with the iniiamnu'ible material, an iniammable cord in the box, a rope connected with the inflammable cord, said rope released when the cord is burned and a weight attached to the rope.

l0. ln an apparatus of the class described, the combination ol a building, a Fuse-box within the building, a sliding tube in the-top o'll the fuse-box, a non-inliammable rope connected with the sliding' tube, a pulley above the fuse-box having said rope passed over it, a weight attached to the rope, a sliding tube in the bottom oi the 'Fuse-box, inilami'nable cords connecting' said sliding tubes within the lfusebox, a readily-ignitible rope connected with the lower sliding tube. pulleys Alor supporting said rope, means `tor iixiug the opposite end ofthe rope, a tube communicating with the fuse-box, a 't'use in the tube and means actuated by an upward movement "of the upper tube in the `fuse-box t'or protecting articles within the building, substantially as and lor the purposes stated.

ADOLPH A. l'iANi'BON.

Witnesses:

idf. H. i-loLMns, 'ififirLL'mM B. ioni.

IOO 

